The Day the Music Died

[jrschwartz]

R.I.P. WCCC. For years you have been an island of peace and intelligence in a sea of inane morning talk shows. The morning commute was never fun, but good music made it better. And now you've slipped beneath the water. From 6:00 AM until 10:00 there is no more music, not even intelligent talk, just Imus mumbling Fox Noise. WCCC, I miss you.

[Shapley]

Welcome to the B.Com BB!

I see that Imus has been added to the morning drive. I don't understand why, entirely, as he seems incompatible with Connecticutts only classical music station's format.

V/R
Shapley

[Nicole Marie]

Yes Imus is now on Monday to Friday from 6am to 10am on WCCC AM 1290. Fans of the classical music can still hear music online at Beethoven.com and the Members Club will stay all music.

It's no surprise that times are tough. We had to cut Scott down to part time, I took a HUGE pay cut, our whole company had to lay off other staff members and the rest took cuts as well.

Classical music in general is a hard format to sell to advertisers. That is why many stations have folded across the country. We are committed to it but need to find ways to support the format. One way we do that is with the local West Hartford Sports broadcasts. The sports were great and helped to keep the music on the air... then the economy tanked. So we must find other ways to support the music since sports can no longer do it alone.

We looked to Imus for several reasons... 1- He does great radio! I am not talking about if you like or don't like what he says but from an industry stand point he understands delivery and is experienced. He has been doing it since 1971 and has a huge fan base. We have seen a record number of responses from new listeners who tuned in to hear Imus but NOW STAY to listen to the music! We have brought in more listeners thanks to Imus. 2- His demo is similar to the classical music demo. The "type" of person that listens to Imus is also the same person that listens to the classical programs. 3- We can now bring in new advertisers (i.e. more money). With the Imus program we can now approach advertisers we could never approach before. Clients are also now coming to us and wanting to take out time on the Imus show. Now we can bring in some serious cash. In the long run this only helps the classical programming so we do not have to shut it down. If you don't like Imus then you can still hear the music online. We have to make money to support the music programs and we are thankful to have a strong morning show that can do that for us.

[Shapley]

With your permission, I'll set up a Beethoven.com fan page on facebook. I know we discussed it in an earlier thread, but I don't think anything was done.

It may help a handful of people find you, in any case. And it's free. Free advertising is the best value for the money.

[jamiebk]

Nicole, Thanks for the insight. I wish things weren't so difficult. Sounds like you are doing what you must to stay alive. I don't really care for the I-man...and I am not sure of the connection his audience may have with classical music. I would think most would tune over to country western or something. But...that's why you do what you do and I do what I do...I really have no knowledge of such things.

What I do know is that I really like B.com's refreshing classical music programing and am pleased to continue as a member, especially when the stream is devoid of both commercials and the "talk" portion of your aired programming. I hope that the plan works and B.com gets healthy again. Thanks for all you do to make it a great station. DLTBGYD.

[Nicole Marie]

Thanks for the offer on the Facebook page. I'm actually working on it this week and hope to have it up this weekend. Details to come!

Also thanks for the support everyone. We are trying and doing all we can. I'm hoping by 2nd quarter next year we (and the rest of the country) really start to see movement forward.

[Shapley]

Let me know when it is up. I'll become a fan and recommend it.

[dai bread]

Seems my membership sub. was really needed.

[Trumpetmaster]

Let me know when it is up. I'll become a fan and recommend it.

DITTO

[Shapley]

Ludwig van Beethoven has over 90,000 fans on facebook. Surely we can persuade a large number of them to become fans of the station that bears his name. Ludwiggy, iggy, iggy.

[BigJon]

Imus is a dope.

[dai bread]

Ludwig van Beethoven has over 90,000 fans on facebook. Surely we can persuade a large number of them to become fans of the station that bears his name. Ludwiggy, iggy, iggy.

If you click on the "Boxes" tab on the site linked to, you end up with an audio recording of a master class taken by Andras Schiff. While I prefer Michael Houston's take on the sonatas, I found the classes I listened to ("Moonlight" and "Waldstein") interesting and informative. Who knew the "Moonlight" was a funeral march, the first movement being based on a theme from "Don Giovanni" where the Commandatore meets his end at the Don's sword-point? There are more of these master classes, covering all the sonatas, available on the "Guardian" website.

[ai4i]

A bigtime fan of classical music and of digital radio, I say go all news/talk/sports on the AM and all classical on the FM's HD-2 and promote the heck out of it. I have a digital radio at home plus one in the car and, sadly, no compelling content to hear in my market. Wish I lived where I could enjoy this technology, but wireless streaming is in my near future.